November 7, 2002
Contents:
1. David Miller: Quotation
2. Calvinists
3. Geneva Bible: History
4. The Geneva Bible: More History
5. Israel in the West
1. David Miller: Quotation
New Evidence?: Geneva Bible notes
From: keysuspect <keysuspect@netzero.net>
Mr. Davidi:
I didn't know if you were aware of
this, but the following notes appear in
the 1599 Geneva Bible on Obadiah 1:20.
This is another secondary source
that seems to substantiate the truth
of Israel's identity.
David Miller
1:20 And the captivity of this host
of the children of Israel [shall
possess] that of the {p} Canaanites,
[even] unto Zarephath; and the
captivity of Jerusalem, which [is]
in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of
the south.
(p) By the Canaanites, the Jews mean
the Dutchmen, and by Zarephath,
France, and by Sepharad, Spain.
Comment: This quotation (which we were
not previously aware of) ties in
well with what we wrote concerning
this passage in Ephraim. I would be very
interested in learning more about this
quote and what authorities were
responsible
and what sources they used.
2. Calvinists
The following articles (notes
nos 3 &4 downloaded from the web) attribute
the Geneva Bible to Calvin.
Calvin was a controversial figure.
John Calvin (1509 - 1564) was a Frenchman
who joined the Protestant cause.
He went to Geneva in the french-speaking
section of Switzerland and was
given effectual control of the city.
Geneva became a center of refuge for
Protestant scholars from all over Europe.
Calvin had about 58 people
executed for various forms of heresy.
Was Calvin an anti-Semite?
An anti-Jewish quotation has been attributed
to Calvin but it may be (like
similar quotations attributed to others)
a forgery.
[Recently, enemies of the truth
attributed statements and opinions to
Yair Davidiy and Rabbi Avraham Feld
that are the
exact opposite of all we have ever
believed in. I am still in shock at the
effrontery of these dogs to make such
slanderous statements about us].
At all events Calvin wrote (in
both commentary on Romans, chapter 11, and
in Institutes of the Christian Religion):
1) God would save the Jews.
2) Jews while in general in unbelief
are still in a way elect by God and
are to be loved and seen as wayward
brothers we long to see come back.
3) God's love never left the Jews even when they are in general disbelief.
This was the bottom line and these sentiments
(with some notable serious
exceptions) were to be what most influenced
the followers of Calvin in the long
run.
John Knox took Calvinism to Scotland
where it became Presbyerianism.
<<The historian, Frederick M.
Schweitzer, in his work entitled, A History
of the Jews Since the First Century
A.D., has a note about Scotland and the
Jews: "Scots are very proud that unlike
`the kingdom to the south' their
homeland has never been desecrated
by anti-Semitism, expulsions,
confiscations, or ill-feeling of any
kind toward Jews . . ." (page 295).
This happy condition is due to their
Calvinist heritage. John Calvin
(1509-1564) was one of the foremost
leaders in the Protestant Reformation
in Europe. John Knox (1515-1572) perpetuated
Calvin's teaching in Scotland.
Hence, Calvin's principles of his theology
are em-bodied in the creeds and
practice of the Presbyterian Church
of Scotland. "To follow Calvin meant to
live a high degree of holiness, seeking
to know and follow the will of
God." (Elgin S. Moyer. The Wycliffe
Bio-graphical Dictionary of the Church,
p. 73).>> (Source:
http://christianactionforisrael.org/judeochr/rolegent/reformat.html
).
Calvin extended the name "Israel" to
"all the people of God" meaning in
effect all who followed his teachings
BUT he also emphasized "in such a way,
that the Jews shall obtain the first
place, being, as it were the firstborn
in God's family".
Calvin apparently meant by "Jews" in
the above quotation those Jews who
would accept his doctrine
nevertheless the ultimate effect of
his creed was to instill a not
unsympathetic attitude towards the
Jewish people.
Most of those who adopted the Calvinists
form of belief appear to have been
of Israelite descent.
On the one hand I consider Calvin to
have been very wrong, on the other
hand he did have positive effects.
Ruth Schecter is an Israeli historian
of philosophy who has written
several books and lectures at Universities
and the Israeli Ministry of Education,
on behalf of the Israeli Open
University, has published a book by
her.
Ruth Schecter considers Calvin to have
instilled a "Hebraic" frame of mind
in his followers as distinct
from that of
other Europeans that she considers
to have been ant-Hebraic. She also
considers this Hebraic frame of mind
to have become typically "Anglo-Saxon"
meaning pertaining to those of
British descent.
Calvin himself may have also, as I
once read, had anti-semitic sentiments
BUT historically Protestants who followed
Calvin were the ones who in practice
were in most cases the least
anti-semitic and often strongly pro-Jewish.
The Huguenots were in effect
Calvinists. Calvinists in France and Holland,
per head of population, did more to
save Jews during the Holocaust than any
other group .
3. Geneva Bible: History
http://www.reformed.org/documents/geneva/Geneva.html
The Geneva Bible:
The Forgotten Translation
By: Gary DeMar
When Mary Tudor (Bloody Mary) became
queen of England in 1553, she was
determined to roll back the Reformation
and reinstate Roman Catholicism.
Mary had strong ties to Catholic Spain.
She married Philip II of Spain and
induced the English Parliament to recognize
the authority of papal Rome.
Mary met with a great deal of resistance
from Protestant reformers in her
own country. Mary showed no signs of
compromise. The persecution of
Protestants followed.
The era known as the Marian Exile drove
hundreds of English scholars to the
Continent with little hope of ever
seeing their home and friends again. God
used this exodus experience to advance
the Reformation. A number of English
Protestant divines settled in Calvin's
Geneva: Miles Coverdale, John Foxe,
Thomas Sampson, and William Whittingham.
With the protection of the Genevan
civil authorities and the support of
John Calvin and the Scottish Reformer
John Knox, the Church of Geneva determined
to produce an English Bible
without the need for the imprimatur
of either England or Rome - the Geneva
Bible.
Translation Work Begins In 1557
The Geneva translators produced a revised
New Testament in English in 1557
that was essentially a revision of
Tyndale's revised and corrected 1534
edition. Much of the work was done
by William Whittingham, the
brother-in-law of John Calvin. The
Geneva New Testament was barely off the
press when work began on a revision
of the entire Bible, a process that
took more than two years. The new translation
was checked with Theodore
Beza's earlier work and the Greek text.
In 1560 a complete revised Bible
was published, translated according
to the Hebrew and Greek, and conferred
with the best translations in divers
languages, and dedicated to Queen
Elizabeth I. After the death of Mary,
Elizabeth was crowned queen in 1558,
once again moving England toward Protestantism.
The Geneva Bible was
finally printed in England in 1575
only after the death of Archbishop
Matthew Parker, editor of the Bishop's
Bible.
England's Most Popular Bible
While other English translations failed
to capture the hearts of the
reading public, the Geneva Bible was
instantly popular. Between 1560 and
1644 at least 144 editions appeared.
For forty years after the publication
of the King James Bible, the Geneva
Bible continued to be the Bible of the
home. Oliver Cromwell used extracts
from the Geneva Bible for his Soldier's
Pocket Bible which he issued to the
army.
A THREAT TO KING JAMES
In 1620 the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth
with their Bibles and a conviction
derived from those Bibles of establishing
a new nation. The Bible was not
the King James Version. When James
I became king of England in 1603, there
were two translations of the Bible
in use; the Geneva Bible was the most
popular, and the Bishops' Bible was
used for reading in churches.
King James disapproved of the Geneva
Bible because of its Calvinistic
leanings. He also frowned on what he
considered to be seditious marginal
notes on key political texts. A marginal
note for Exodus 1:9 indicated that
the Hebrew midwives were correct in
disobeying the Egyptian king's orders,
and a note for 2 Chronicles 15:16 said
that King Asa should have had his
mother executed and not merely deposed
for the crime of worshipping an
idol. The King James Version of the
Bible grew out of the king's distaste
for these brief but potent doctrinal
commentaries. He considered the
marginal notes to be a political threat
to his kingdom.
At a conference at Hampton Court in
1604 with bishops and theologians, the
king listened to a suggestion by the
Puritan scholar John Reynolds that a
new translation of the Bible was needed.
Because of his distaste for the
Geneva Bible, James was eager for a
new translation. "I profess," he said,
"I could never yet see a Bible well
translated in English; but I think
that, of all, that of Geneva is the
worst."
A THREAT TO ROME
In addition to being a threat to the
king of England, the Geneva Bible was
outspokenly anti-Roman Catholic, as
one might expect. Rome was still
persecuting Protestants in the sixteenth
century. Keep in mind that the
English translators were exiles from
a nation that was returning to the
Catholic faith under a queen who was
burning Protestants at the stake. The
anti-Roman Catholic sentiment is most
evident in the Book of Revelation:
"The beast that cometh out of the bottomless
pit (Rev. 11:7) is the Pope,
which hath his power out of hell and
cometh thence." In the end, the Geneva
Bible was replaced by the King James
Version, but not before it helped to
settle America.
Back in Geneva
Calvin knew that the job of reforming
a city seemingly bent on destruction
would not be easy. "There is no place
in the world that I fear more," he
confessed. Immorality was at an all-time
high, with gambling, street
brawls, drunkenness, adultery, and
public indecency common everywhere. But
not all was dark. When he arrived on
September 13, 1541, a change had come
over the city. The people actually
wanted him to return. The city officials
bestowed honors on him and apologized
for the way he had been treated. The
Council members assured Calvin that
they would cooperate with him to
restore the Gospel and moral order.
The businessmen were equally relieved
to learn that Calvin might return.
Calvin was overwhelmed by the outward
display of affection and decided to
return to Geneva. On September 16th he
wrote to Farel: "Your wish is granted.
I am held fast here. May God give
His blessing."
Calvin's Contributions
Calvin continued his work of reformation,
not by a heavy-handed use of the
civil magistrate, but with the preaching
of God's Word and the building of
the Church. Church government was lacking,
not only in Geneva, but all over
Protestant Europe. Calvin understood
that only the Church, not the State,
could define orthodox theology and
bring about true long-term reform.
According to the Bible, the State and
the Church were jurisdictionally
separate. Each had its God-ordained
area of jurisdiction and authority -
one civil (the State) and one ecclesiastical
(the Church). Even so, Calvin
insisted, both Church and State were
ordained by God and obligated to
follow His laws as they applied to
their specific appointed jurisdictions.
Calvin's view that God reigns everywhere
and over all things led him to
develop the biblical idea that man
can serve God in every area of life -
church, civil government, education,
art, music, business, law, journalism.
There was no need to be a priest, a
monk, or a nun to get closer to God.
God is glorified in everyday work and
family life. Calvin's teaching led
directly to what has become known as
the "Protestant work ethic."
Individual initiative leads to economic
productivity as Christians work out
their faith in their callings before
God.
Stricken with tuberculosis, Calvin preached
his last sermon on February 6,
1564. Although bedridden until his
death on May 27, 1564, Calvin continued
to work, extending his legacy in the
lives of those who sat under his teaching.
Thanks to the Institutes of the Christian
Religion, his printed sermons,
the Academy, his commentaries on nearly
every book of the Bible (except the
Song of Solomon and the Book of Revelation),
and his pattern of Church and
Civil government, Calvin shaped the
thought and motivated the ideals of
Protestantism in France, the Netherlands,
Poland, Hungry, Scotland, and the
English Puritans; many of whom settled
in America. The great American
historian George Bancroft stated, "He
that will not honor the memory, and
respect the influence of Calvin, knows
but little of the origin of American
liberty." The famous German historian,
Leopold von Ranke, wrote, "John
Calvin was the virtual founder of America."
John Adams, the second
president of the United States, wrote:
"Let not Geneva be forgotten or
despised. Religious liberty owes it
most respect."
From American Vision's Biblical Worldview February 1997 (Used by permission)
4. The Geneva Bible: More History
http://www.apuritansmind.com/PuritanWorship/GenevaBible.htm
The Geneva Bible
A bible in every Puritan's home.
The Puritan's Bible:
The Bible every Puritan family had in
their home was not the KJV of 1609 or
1611. The Bible which they
carried was the Geneva Bible. The Geneva
Bible was the most widely read and
influential English Bible of the l6th
and 17th centuries, which was printed
from 1560 to 1644 in over 200
different printings. As a product of
superior translation by the best
Protestant scholars of its day, it
became the Bible of choice for many of
the greatest writers, thinkers and
historical figures of its day. Puritans
John Bunyan and John Milton used the
Geneva Bible, which is reflected in
their writings. During the English
Civil War, Oliver Cromwell issued a
pamphlet containing excerpts from the
Geneva Bible to his troops. The
Geneva Bible was even brought with
the Pilgrims when they set sail on the
Mayflower and was the generally accepted
text among the Puritans. William
Bradford cited it in his book Of Plymouth
Plantation.
The key feature of the Geneva Bible that distinguished it from
all other Bibles of its time and made
it so popular were the extensive
marginal notes that were included to
explain and interpret the scriptures
for the common people. For example,
"the sun, the moon and the stars
falling from the heavens" was interpreted
as meaning that the religious
leaders of the latter days would be
discredited. These notes, run to
approximately 300,000 words, or one
third the length of the text of the
Bible itself! Written by Reformation
leaders John Calvin, John Knox, Miles
Coverdale, William Whittingham, Anthony
Gilby, William Keithe, Thomas
Sampson, Thomas Wood and several others.
For nearly half a century these
notes helped the people of England,
Scotland, and Ireland understand the
scriptures. The marginal notes were
especially useful to the common people
when Queen Elizabeth prohibited priests
from addressing the congregations.
The Geneva Bible had several other novel features. On the advice
of John Calvin it became the first
Bible to divide scriptures into numbered
verses. It was published in Roman type
rather than black letter, and all
interpolated words were italicized.
The Geneva Bible owes its origins to the Reformation Leaders who
defied the persecutions of "Bloody
Mary" (as Mary Queen of England would
come to be called). Upon her ascension
to the throne, Queen Mary banned the
printing of English scriptures. This
led William Whittingham, Anthony
Gilby, and a small band of Englishmen
to flee to Geneva where they began
translating an English version of the
Bible. These scholars were concerned
about the influence the Catholic Church
would have in shaping the available
English translation of the Bible (all
translated from the Latin Vulgate).
They turned to the original Greek and
Hebrew texts to create the Geneva
Bible, which became the first Bible
ever translated into English from the
original Biblical texts.
It took the leaders of the Reformation over two years of
diligent work day and night to finish
the translation and commentaries of
the Geneva Bible. During this time
they used many works and commentaries,
including those of Theodore Beza, one
of the most prominent Biblical
scholars of the era.
In addition to being the reason for its popularity, the marginal
notes of the Geneva Bible were also
the reason for its demise. These
strongly Protestant notes so infuriated
King James that he considered it
"seditious" and made its ownership
a felony. James I was particularly
worried about marginal notes such as
the one in Exod 1: 19, which allowed
disobedience to Kings. Consequently,
King James eventually introduced the
King James Version, which drew largely
from the Geneva Bible (minus the
marginal notes that had enraged him).
During the reign of James I and into
the reign of Charles I the use of the
Geneva Bible steadily declined as the
Authorized King James version became
more widely used. In 1644 the Geneva
Bible was printed for the last time.
© A Puritan's Mind, All Rights Reserved, 1998-2002
5. Israel in the West
Extracts Adapted from "Ephraim" by
Yair Davidi, Chapter Seven
Zarephath
FRANCE, BRITAIN, ISRAEL, GERMANY, AND
ROME ACCORDING TO TALMUDIC AND
RABBINICAL COMMENTATORS
In early Medieval and Modern Hebrew
the country of France is called
"Zarephath". Zarephath was originally
a Phoenician town, "Zarephath which
belongeth to Zidon" (1Kings 17;9) in
which Israelites also dwelt. The name
"Zarephath " is derived from a Hebrew
root meaning "MetalForger"1.
Throughout ancient Gaul and especially
on the northwest coast there are
signs of Phoenician or Israelite settlement2.
It may be that France
received the name Zarephath for ethnic
reasons due to some connection with
the mixed Israelite Phoenician center
of Zarephath. This is in accordance
with Rabbinic opinion.
At all events Zarephath is mentioned
in the Biblical Book of Obadiah in
connection with the future location
of the Lost Ten Tribes. Commentators
understood the intention to mean the
country of Gaul-France that according
to Abarbanel (on Obadiah) included
in Biblical terms the Isle of Britain. T
OBADIAH CONCLUDES:
"AND THE CAPTIVITY OF THIS HOST OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SHALL
POSSES THAT OF THE CANAANITES, EVEN
UNTO ZAREPHATH; AND THE CAPTIVITY OF
JERUSALEM, WHICH IS IN SEPHARAD, SHALL
POSSESS THE CITIES OF THE SOUTH.
"AND SAVIORS SHALL COME UP ON MOUNT ZION TO JUDGE THE MOUNT OF
ESAU; AND THE KINGDOM SHALL BE THE
LORD'S" (Obadiah 1;2021).
The above translation is from the King James (KJ) version. The
Hebrew original is capable of additional
nuances of meaning.
Sepharad means Spain and refers to the Jews or descendants of
Jews. Our interest at the moment is
concentrated on the Lost Ten Tribes who
are in Zarephath. As explained
above, Zarephath was the name of a township
on the coast of Lebanon, "Zarephath
which belongeth to Sidon" (1Kings
17;9). "Zarephath" was also the name
given in later Hebrew to France and
its neighbors and encompassed Britain.
"Zarephath" is mentioned in the Book
of Obadiah (1;20) in connection with
the exile of the children of Israel:
"THE CAPTIVITY OF THIS HOST OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SHALL
POSSESS THAT OF THE CANAANITES UNTO
ZAREPATH.."
According to a composite explanation
based on Rabbinical Commentators
[especially Rashi and Nachmanides]
the above verse may actually be
understood to say:
"This first exile [of the Lost Ten Tribes] who reach from the Land
of Canaanites [i.e. Germany] to Zeraphath
[France and Britain].."
The Hebrew word ("Chail") translated in the KJ as "host" can also
mean "first" and most Jewish Commentators
seem to have understood the verse
to refer to the First Exile which was
that of the Lost Ten Tribes. They
also tended to understand the place
name "Zarephath" (in this case) as
referring to France and its area or
to France and England together and thus
either expressly. This identification,
by implication, links the Lost Ten
Tribes with these western regions.
For full quotations and a more thorough
explanation of the sources, see
'Ephraim".
Comment:
"This first exile [of the Lost Ten
Tribes] who reach from the Land of
Canaanites [i.e. Germany] to Zeraphath
[France and Britain].."
This could be understood to mean Holland
and Scandinavia.
http://www.britam.org/
http://www.geocities.com/hiberi
"And I will make of you a great nation.
And I will bless you and make your
name great.
And you shall be a blessing.
"And I will bless they who bless you,
and curse him who curses you.
And in you shall all the families of
the earth be blessed.
(Gensis 12;2-3).
The Principles of Brit-Am require:
1. Acceptance of Prophecy.
2. Self-Respect (no hatred of fellow
Israelite groups, no antisemitism)
3. Acknowledgement of The Israelite
Identity of many people amongst
Western Nations.
4. recognition of "Captive Jews"
meaning Israelite or Jewish descendants
who lost their identity and emerged
from amongst dominantly non-Israelite
peoples. The destiny of these "Captive
Jews" is bound up with that of the
Lost Ten Tribes even though
the Lost Ten Tribes retained some degree
of communal cohesion, and they did
not.
The aims of Brit-Am are to encourage:
1. The spread of Identity Awareness.
2. Increased Identity research and
clarification.
3. Association of members together
for the sake of mutual-empowerment,
learning and fellowship.
The giving of donations
together with the ordering of publications
enables
Brit-Am to function.
Send to:
Yair Davidiy
POB 595
Jerusalem 91004
Israel